It's Your Business: B&B planned near Camargo

A Newman couple plans to open a bed-and-breakfast in a 19th-century home just west of Camargo in Douglas County.

Kim and Marylee McGee will hold an open house Feb. 11 for the Patterson Springs Bed & Breakfast. The event will last from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the McGees will begin accepting guests after that.

The bed-and-breakfast is in an 1882 brick house where Marylee McGee grew up. It's on the site of the old Patterson Springs recreation area that once attracted campers, swimmers and chautauquas.

The McGees, who previously operated a weekend retreat near Hillview in western Illinois, decided to open the bed-and-breakfast after the previous resident — Marylee's mother, Rosemary Overturf Nussel Cox — died in January 2011.

The house, furnished with antiques, has two upstairs bedrooms — one with a king-sized bad and the other with twin beds.

The bedrooms have a shared bathroom, but arrangements can be made for a private bath, Marylee McGee said. The house is not handicapped-accessible, she added.

The McGees expect to charge $110 a night for the room with the king-sized bed and $100 for the other room.

Kim McGee will prepare breakfasts. He said he'll give guests some choice in what they eat. His specialties include cornmeal waffles and buttermilk oat-bran pancakes, as well as eggs and bacon and sausage and biscuits.

Marylee McGee said the eggs will be organic, the fruit homegrown and the honey served will be local.

During summer, guests can make use of an outdoor in-ground pool, and those with horses can attend equestrian events at Patterson Springs Stables, run by the McGees' daughter, Marydith, and her husband Jeff.

Patterson Springs gets its name from a fresh-water spring along the banks of the nearby Embarras River.

Marylee McGee retired from the Tuscola school district as a speech therapist last year, but continues some part-time work. Kim McGee works part time at First Neighbor Bank in Newman and does some farming.

To get to the house from Champaign-Urbana, take Illinois 130 south to Camargo, then take U.S. 36 a half-mile west to County Road 1500 N. Turn north, and the B&B is the second house on the right.

Reservations can be made by calling the McGees at 837-2685 or emailing them at webemcgee@gmail.com[3].

Kinex Fitness Studios expands

Kinex Fitness Studios, which opened last fall at The Pines shopping center in southeast Urbana, has expanded northward and is offering group fitness classes in the new space.

Kinex has scheduled a "launch party" for the group fitness program on Thursday, with three free sessions open to the public, said Jerome Ng, director of the group fitness program.

The first session, at 4:15 p.m., provides samples of PiYo and BodyFlow classes. PiYo involves elements of Pilates and yoga, while BodyFlow has elements of tai chi and karate, Ng said.

The 5:30 p.m. session gives samples of TurboKick (elements of dance and kickboxing) and BodyCombat (cardio workout that involves punching and kicking moves).

More conventional items include buttermilk pancakes, Belgian waffles and a quiche of the day.

Owner Jane Anderson said some of the restaurant's older customers would rather go out for breakfast than for dinner — and Milo's kitchen and staff were in a position to accommodate them.

The new breakfast hours — which began Jan. 3 — are 7 to 10 a.m. seven days a week.

Mark your calendar

The annual Community Days event held by Bergner's in Champaign and Carson's in Danville and Mattoon will be held in April this year — not in February, as in past years.

The event gives local nonprofit groups a chance to sell savings booklets and earn money for their groups.

Last year, nonprofits across the country raised more than $10.7 million by taking part in the event sponsored by parent company Bon-Ton Stores Inc.

This year the event will by April 27 and 28. The new, later timing will give nonprofits longer to organize volunteers and sell booklets — plus, those buying booklets should find a better selection of spring merchandise in April, the company said.

The Sav-Mor Pharmacy in Paxton closed Saturday and transferred customer accounts to Hudson Drug & Hallmark Shop, also in Paxton, reports Will Brumleve of the Paxton Record.

Sav-Mor had been in Paxton for 31 years, and Dave Falk, president of Decatur-based Sav-Mor Pharmacies, said the company didn't want to continue competing in a town with another independent pharmacy.

Andy Hudson, owner of Hudson Drug, told the Paxton Record he has acquired the Sav-Mor building from Falk but has no definite plans for it.

Falk said Sav-Mor will continue to operate its other nine stores, including a recently built store in Tuscola.

Are you opening a new business or changing an existing business? Contact Don Dodson by calling 351-5227 or 800-252-3346; by email at dodson@news-gazette.com; or by regular mail at The News-Gazette, c/o It's Your Business column, P.O. Box 677, Champaign, IL 61824-0677.